Curb your boxing day spending @ Saver Queen

Curb your boxing day spending

Posted on December 27th, 2008 Saver Queen 6 comments

Planning to head out to the shops to take advantage of the Boxing Day Sales? Be careful. The urge to spend can increase when you’re surrounded by “clearance sale” signs and in competition with other shoppers. The very best way to use boxing day sales is to shop with a list and make a budget before you go. Use flyerland.ca to compare prices and then make a plan. Go only to the stores that sell what you need and stay out of the ones you don’t! If shirts are on for only $5 a piece but you already have enough shirts, then it’s not a good deal.

If you make a list and stick to it, you will avoid buyer’s remorse and truly get a good bargain. Coming home with a lot of stuff you don’t really need will only make you feel guilty, no matter how good the sale was.

Josh and I are almost finished our boxing day shopping. Normally I avoid Boxing Day shopping because I believe the holidays are best spent relaxing with your family. But this year is a bit different. We’ve been saving all year for the things we need and now that we are moving we are taking the plunge to buy many things on our list at discounted prices. It’s a big list - a good quality mattress, bed, dresser, TV and TV stand, coffee table, and for Josh, winter boots, winter coat, running shoes, dress shirts, and for me, bras. Our budget for everything is $5000. I’ll update you with how we did when we are finished.

Is anyone else doing Boxing Day Sales shopping or are you avoiding the unbearable crowds all-together?

6 responses to “Curb your boxing day spending”

Kate December 27th, 2008 at 21:43

Boxing Day shopping this year was weird. A lot of stores really didn’t have very good deals at all. Others did though- we did very well at Old Navy, Banana Republic and Home Outfitters. The crowds weren’t nearly bad this year, I suspect largely due to the ongoing transit stike.

We stuck to buying only either things we needed (a new comforter and duvet cover) or things we had been on the hunt for for a long time (100% wool dress pants for hubby and light wool knit sweaters for me)
apieceofwood December 28th, 2008 at 10:00

I did brave the sales, but only to buy a lot of birthday and christmas presents for next year at reduced prices all of which are now tucked away.
Fabulously Broke December 28th, 2008 at 11:40

My new rules (since 2 years ago) is not to go out unless I need something. I always inevitably find something I want and then I can’t stop thinking about it.

*shrug*

Fabulously Broke in the City
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver…
Amber December 28th, 2008 at 14:05

“If shirts are on for only $5 a piece but you already have enough shirts, then it’s not a good deal.”

I love this! I think in the same way. I look at my grocery bill that says “You saved $10!” and I think no, I spent $90. Just because something’s on sale doesn’t mean it’s a good buy.

I am avoiding the crowds. First, because who wants to drag a baby and a 3-year-old through all that madness, and second because I really don’t *need* anything. We’ve decided to hold off on a new TV a little longer, and we’ve even canceled cable.
Debtfree2009 December 29th, 2008 at 10:47

I can’t wait to hear about the deals. There was a group on the news the other day about a large group of people who skipped the Boxing day sales and came here to SC to shop.
Omzig December 30th, 2008 at 00:05

We did venture out as we had budgeted to buy new bedroom furniture for our three girls. The crowds were not too thick where we went and we even got service a few times (one time the sales lady put a movie on for the girls so we could discuss the purchase - so much more enjoyable than trying to get them to stop getting on the beds). Although, in some stores the sales people never came near us, preferring to sell someone a thousand dollar tv instead of selling us $2000 worth of bedroom furniture. Ah well, their loss. We got 3 headboards and the metal frames for the beds, 2 tall dressers, 1 shorter one with a big mirror, and 3 nightstands for $1730 ($576 per girl). He took the sale prices and dropped the taxes off plus took another $150 off. I was pretty happy, and it beat the nearest competitor by about $500 for all that.